The Liberal Fire Department responded to a reported structure fire at 635 S. Pennsylvania on Friday morning at 3:33 am.

First arriving units found the building, known to be vacant, fully engulfed and beginning to collapse. Firefighting efforts initially concentrated on exposure protection. Police and fire units also began patrolling the neighborhood immediately to the South for additional fires due a large amount of embers and brands being carried on the wind. The fire was declared under control at 3:58 am. Firefighters remained on scene until 9:00 am extinguishing hot spots, searching for potential unknown occupants and conducting an on-scene investigation. The structure was totally destroyed. No injuries are reported in the incident. The Liberal Fire Department responded to the incident with 18 firefighters, two engines, a brush truck and a heavy rescue unit. The Liberal Police Department & Seward County EMS responded to the incident as well. Investigation into the cause of the fire is ongoing at this time.